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Fourth Of July Lies
關(guān)于美國的14個謠言
America is the land of the free, home of the brave... the white picket fences, the 2.5 kids in every "modern family." Or so we've been led to believe.
美國，自由的沃土，勇者的家園……屋外環(huán)繞著白色尖樁籬笆，屋內(nèi)奔跑著平均2-3個小孩——典型的“美國現(xiàn)代家庭”圖景。而這些都只是我們印象中的美國。
In honor of the Fourth of July and the celebration of our independence from a country that taxed us without representation, we look at some of the ridiculous myths and outright lies that have people entirely misled about the United States. From Jackie Robinson to who really discovered America, these are the true stories about our history...
為了慶祝7月4號，這個標(biāo)志著我們從另一個國家的剝削中解放出來的日子，我們審視了一些關(guān)于美國的荒謬傳說及謊言，這些東西誤導(dǎo)著人們對美國的看法。從黑人球員Jackie Robinson到航海家哥倫布，我們現(xiàn)在來將謠言逐一擊破吧！
Myth 1: America Is A Democracy
謠言1：美國是個民主國家
In the current age, America and democracy are synonymous. Little do most Americans know they don't actually live in a democracy. America was actually founded as a Constitutional Republic, as stated in the Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance. In an Economist ranking of the world's democratic countries in 2006, America didn't even crack the top 10.
當(dāng)前，“美國”和“民主”似乎已成了同義詞。然而絕大部分美國人不知道的是，他們生活的這個國家，并不是個民主國家。美國最初是作為一個憲法共和國而建立的，這一點(diǎn)在《憲法》和《效忠宣誓》中都有體現(xiàn)。在06年《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》進(jìn)行的一項全球民主國家排名中，美國甚至沒有擠進(jìn)前十。
Myth 2: The Founding Fathers Were Christian
謠言2：美國是由一群基督徒建立的
This is both true and false. A large number of the Founding Fathers were associated with various sects of the Christian church, like Protestantism and Lutheranism. However, many still openly opposed organized religion. Thomas Jefferson practiced Deism, which contends that reason and observation of the natural world are enough to determine the universe has a creator without the need for organized religion.
這句話半對半錯。美國的開國者之中有一大批從屬于基督教會的不同分支，如新教、路德教。然而，也有很多人公然反對有組織的宗教。Thomas Jefferson就信奉自然神教，該教的主張是：自然世界的推理和觀察足以說明世界存在著創(chuàng)始者，并不需要通過組織教會來證明這一點(diǎn)。
Myth 3: Thanksgiving
謠言3：關(guān)于感恩節(jié)
While it's true that the occasion we now know as Thanksgiving first occurred between Pilgrims and nearby Indians, it originally was three days long and served to salute the annual harvest. (Imagine our modern version of stuffing and turkeys for three days.) For the Pilgrims, Thanksgiving was intended to be a religious holiday of fasting and prayer, but only turned to a feast after the rains came during one such period in 1623.
感恩節(jié)最初來源于清教徒和印第安人，這點(diǎn)是沒錯。不過，最初的感恩節(jié)足足有3天，是為了用來慶祝本年豐收的（想象一下用現(xiàn)代社會的慶祝方式胡吃海喝三天的情景……）。對于清教徒來說，感恩節(jié)是個虔誠的節(jié)日，在這段時間里人們禁食和祈禱。不過，1623年的那次感恩節(jié)下了場雨，于是節(jié)日內(nèi)容轉(zhuǎn)變成大快朵頤了。
